A Righteous Response

It has happened after several years of debate and court cases, amid public outcry, contention and fighting; marriage has been redefined in our nation. Take a quick look at Facebook, or turn on the news and you will see a tirade of response from all different perspectives and people. Amidst it there is so much anger. To be honest, anger is the primary feeling I get when I look at our nation and the current, “state of events”. The interesting thing about anger though is that it is never what it seems to be. Often, it is hiding grief, fear, pride or the like in a loud masquerade.

The marriage issue is one of several things that are happening in our nation and even globally. The racial issue for our nation and the injustice that is coming to light is more intense and heartbreaking than in many decades, the political situation is spinning out of control, ISIL (ISIS) is demolishing holy places like the gravesite of Jonah the prophet as it ravages through the nations of the middle East and the list goes on. It seems as if a swirl of conflict is brewing all around us, wanting to capture us in a whirlpool of confusion.

The Bible says in the book of Psalms, “…if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Many times people have viewed this scripture as definitive or an ultimatum. Could it be though that it is as it appears; a question that is waiting for a response from the people of God. I do not believe that it is definitive, nor do I believe the state of our nation is definitive either. I believe that our nation and the world are waiting for something…something real and tangible, overpowering and awe-inspiring.

Many times we as believers react in one of two ways to crisis- either we fight or we flight. The fight is what you see a lot of on Facebook. It always saddens me when I see people demonstrating a complete lack or void of godly character in a public or private fashion all in the name of, “truth”. Putting expletives and arguing back and forth isn’t exactly what I envision when I think of Jesus telling us to love our enemies and pray for those who spitefully use us.

The flight perspective is the almost deafening noise of indifference and compromise you hear from many in the house of God. Turning our back on sound doctrine and the word of God for political correctness, or because perhaps it touches an area of sin in our own lives or the life of a family member.

Since neither of these perspectives seems to be yielding the fruit of righteousness and change, what is our response to be? My friends, as Pastor Tonya has stated in previous articles, I believe that our response is to STAND.

Our response has to be definitive. We cannot be moved or swayed by the waves and breakers of hate and sin that we see exuding forth all around us. The Bible says in Ephesians 6, “…having done all to stand….STAND.” What does it look like to have, done all.? Seems to me that it would be a challenge even to get to that point! If I have done all, then I have DONE ALL! I have resisted being moved or pushed right or left or pushed over, or pulled forward or sucked in! And it is in the moment of potential exhaustion, that God exhorts us through the words of Paul, to stand all the more.

You may feel this way; exhausted and barely on your feet after having been attacked over and again. I want to encourage your heart; it is not over. There is a power higher than the Supreme Court and he rules over all. There is a power stronger than all the power of hate; it is love incarnate, Jesus Christ. The nations and rulers of nations truly do plot in vain. Jesus Christ has the final word over all.

Let us look to a kingdom not made with hands and endure until the end. Keep your testimony of righteousness! Live your life out loud in love; a love that is so overwhelming and compelling that it silences every voice…on both sides… and allows us to finally hear the still, silent, powerful, majestic, awe inspiring voice of the one who loved us and died for us. He is still speaking and his voice will cause the wilderness of the age to bloom with beauty and righteousness. There is still hope…STAND.

CULTIVATING REVIVAL THROUGH PERSONAL PURITY

Isaiah 64.1-2

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!  As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make Your Name known

to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!

PSALM 119.9-16

How can a young man keep his way pure?

~

We are in a spiritual season where around the world Believers are expectant – pregnant with the next GREAT move of God!  At Shekinah – we have joined our hearts to the cries of millions who pray and seek after and are willing to PRESS ALL THE WAY IN – to the FULLNESS of REVIVAL!  And not only press in – but we want to SUSTAIN, MAINTAIN, CAPTURE AND KEEP A CULTURE OF REVIVAL – HERE, and everywhere we go!!!

So….WHAT IS REVIVAL?

The Dictionary of the Christian Church defines revival as:

• A spontaneous spiritual awakening by the Holy Spirit among professing Christians in the churches, which results in deepened religious experience, holy living, evangelism and missions, the founding of educational and philanthropic institutions, and social reform. Revival should not be confused with evangelism à Evangelism is the result of revival!

• Revival is God coming down in life stirring power among His people. It takes place when the church is spiritually low and ineffective

• Revival is a visitation from God that restores life to the Church and produces lasting moral change.

• Revival is a movement of the Holy Spirit bringing about a restoration of New Testament Christianity in the Church of Christ and the related community. It is God Opening The Gates and Windows of Heaven and pouring out FLOOD Levels of HIS SPIRIT!!

• Revival is a season in the life of the Church when God causes the normal ministry of the Gospel – the normal ministry of saving souls, THE BAPTISM/empowering OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, the healing of mind, body and spirit, deliverance from demonic oppression – NORMAL MINISTRY to surge forward with extraordinary spiritual power!

Arthur Wallis, in his book, Revival:  The Rain from Heaven, would say – that’s right and good – BUT THERE’S MORE!

REVIVAL IS:

• More than big meetings and great excitement.
• It is more than a great harvest of converts.
• It is more than numbers of Christians being revived and filled with the Spirit.
• One may have any one of these without revival, and yet revival includes them all.
• Revival, then, is such a display of God’s holiness and power that often human personalities are overshadowed and human programs abandoned (that is — our agenda’s both political and social) – shifting the church back to its original purpose – the coming of the Kingdom of God and the TRANSFORMATION of the world!!!
• It is God breaking into the consciousness/the SOUL of men in majesty and glory!
• The prophet Isaiah, when faced with a people who had rebelled and grieved God’s Holy Spirit – Isaiah pleads for such a manifestation of God’s holiness and power – He pleads for REVIVAL: O that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!  As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make Your Name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!

These definitions are all good, but here’s the one that resonates with my heart the most:

Revival is the divine reaction that spills over

into time as hungry, desperate men and women

rediscover key truths about God, His person,

and His purposes that permeate and change the face

of His Church and, through His church – the world!

Did you get that!!

Revival happens – when we re-discover KEY TRUTHS about our God!  Truth like the fact that The Prophetic Isaiah’s plea:

• O that You would rend the heavens and come down…come down to make Your Name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!
• This prophetic prayer was FULLFILLED IN CHRIST!

I need you to track with me…

• In Genesis 28 — Jacob has a revelation concerning BETHEL: The House of God
• It consisted of an OPEN HEAVEN
• Angelic Activity
• And The Voice of God
• It was a TRANSITION PLACE – a GATEWAY to Heavens Vast Resources
• In other words – it was a place of REVIVAL!!

• In John 1.14 we read… “And The Word became flesh and dwelt/tabernacle/was HOUSED among us, and we saw His Glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
• This is the initial NT fulfillment of the Genesis 28 Principle of Bethel – The House of God
• By the time we read down to verses 48 -51 we see Jesus declaring Prophetically the manifestation of The House of God
• Verse 51 “…Truly, truly I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
• In Mark 1.9-10 Jesus comes from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan àWhen He came up out of the water – the Bible declares that “the heavens were opened…
• Schizdo: to sever, break, divide, rend!
• The heavens were rended à Holy Spirit comes down and RESTS upon Jesus
• He fulfills and models the House of God Principle – a place of revival – with His life, His powerful supernatural ministry, His Outrageous Love, His Transformative Reformational Message…
• In the Passion Narrative of Matthew 27.50 – The Crucified Christ, Sacrificial Atoning Mediational Redemption Lamb of God – cries out with a loud voice and yields His Spirit!
• Verse 51 testifies that at THAT MOMENT à The Veil of the Temple was torn (SCHIZDO: RENDED) from top to bottom — ushering Isaiah’s  Prophetic Prayer to a whole new level!  Now – not only was BETHEL – The House of God with us – fulfilled!!!  NOW — THE WAY HAS BEEN TORN OPEN for man to THROUGH CHRIST à directly access God, entering into Covenant relationship – and as a gift of His Grace, THE BELIEVER too BECOMES the House of God!!  A REVIVAL TABERNACLE!!  CLOTHED IN POWER AND GLORY!!

• Come on…look at it in the Book of Acts 1.8 “…but you shall receive POWER when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses…”
• You will be my witness – you will carry, share, and demonstrate My Love, Power and Message of The Gospel
• So in Acts 2 – with The Heavens RENDED and The FULL PRICE PAID — on the Day of Pentecost – at HARVEST TIME…
• Suddenly a noise (Echos: ROAR) came from Heaven LIKE a violent rushing wind (He makes His angels winds and His Ministers a flame of fire – Heb. 1.7) – and it fills the HOUSE (THE OIKOS=HOUSE=HaHar HaBayit: the Mountain of the House = The House of God)
• Tongues of fire – RESTS on them
• They are FILLED WITH HOLY SPIRIT!! THEY BECOME BETHEL!! A REVIVAL TABERNACLE!! à THEY BEGIN TO PROPHETICALLY DECLARE THE MIGHTY DEEDS OF GOD!!
• Bethel: Open Heaven, Angelic Activity, Voice of God, a Gateway to supernatural resources
• 3000 PEOPLE catch the wave of revival and enter THE KOG!!

HEAR THE GOOD NEWS from The Passion Translation (Acts 2.17-21, 38, 39)…

“This is what I will do in the last days —

I will pour out my Spirit on everybody and cause your sons and daughters to prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will experience dreams from God. 

The Holy Spirit will come upon all my servants,

men and women alike, and they will prophesy. 

I will reveal startling signs and wonders in the sky above

and mighty miracles on the earth below. 

Blood and fire and pillars of clouds will appear. 

For the sun will be turned dark and the moon blood-red

before that great and awesome appearance of the day of the Lord.
BUT EVERYONE who calls on the Name of The Lord will be saved.”

“Repent and return to God,

and each one of you must be baptized in the Name of Jesus,

The Anointed One, to have YOUR sins removed. 

Then you may take hold of the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

For GOD’S PROMISE of the Holy Spirit IS FOR YOU

and for your families, for those yet to be born

and for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself!”

Repent – and return to God…

Repent:  Metanoeo (met-an-o-eh-o):  to think differently = IN OTHER WORDS —be transformed by the RENEWING OF YOUR MIND!! 

• Change your mind through the washing of the water of The Word of God
• Let the WORD – PURIFY AND TRANSFORM YOUR HEART (SOUL: MIND, WILL, INTELLECT, EMOTIONS)
• DELETE THE OLD FILES – AND REPLACE THEM WITH THE WORD OF GOD
• LET GOD’S WORD – CHANGE YOUR MIND — PURIFY YOUR HEART – SO THAT YOUR BEGIN TO MANIFEST “THE MIND OF CHRIST”

As we REDISCOVER KEY TRUTHS…As we acknowledge, believe, confess and live like…

• We are BETHEL…We are THE HOUSE OF GOD…we are a GATEWAY to Heavens Vast Resources
• God’s House is Holy because GOD IS HOLY!
• God’s House is Pure and Undefiled because God is….
• Then revival comes!!!

Listen…we were in prayer on a recent Monday night…

As we prayed in other tongues à I could hear the interpretation coming from my heart.  Holy Spirit was praying in me and through me…

• “The Wings of REVIVAL will ride the WINDS of Righteousness…”
• Did you get that??? Revival is carried along by RIGHTEOUSNESS in the hearts and lives of the people of God!!

I heard Holy Spirit say…

• “Righteousness will prevail for I always leave Myself a REMNANT in the earth”

Listen…

I had a dream the other night.  I wrestled in my sleep with this dream because it carried content that was unholy before God!  So I wrestled with the dream even in my sleep….

When I awakened I heard Holy Spirit say…

• The Enemy likes to take advantage of your ‘passive state’ – otherwise known as SLEEPING
• In other words – you need to know that not all dreams are YOU or Holy Spirit! Some dreams are demonic in nature and are devised in regions of darkness to seduce, lure, confuse, entangle, imprison your soul
• Why? The Lord said – because “ defiling the soul à diminishes Godly vision
• The enemy seeks to defile the soul à so that our vision – our VISUAL CAPACITY becomes desecrated/tarnished/violated
• Proverbs 29.18 Without a vision à people perish
• Without vision: chazown: prophetic revelation, (pure) mental sight
• Perish: para:  uncover, cast of restraint; expose, perish
• BUT – HAPPY IS HE WHO KEEPS THE LAW
• Keeps: shamar:  to hedge about; guard; attend to; observe, preserve, regard, watch (like a watchman)

Then I heard this verse rise up in my spirit…

Psalm 119.9ff  — How can a young man keep his way pure…?

In other words…

• How can a BELIEVER – Bethel: The House of God – a REVIVAL TABERNACLE – KEEP à place a hedge around that anointing???
• HOW CAN A CHRISTIAN – A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST, YOU AND I àGuard and protect His HOLY Presence in His HOLY House so that REVIVAL IS CULTIVATED AND SUSTAINED???

1. In Psalm 51:10 we read of a clean heart. But how can we have a clean heart?
2. In Isaiah 52:11 we learn of the importance of being clean before God can use us. But how can we be clean?
3. In Jeremiah 17:9 we read of the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of our hearts. But how can our hearts be cleansed and changed?
4. In Matthew 5:8 we read about the pure in heart – BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD!!!  But how can we gain this purity WHICH BIRTHS, SUSTAINS AND RESTORES PROPHETIC VISION?
5. In Romans 7:18-24 we have a description of a struggle that we all experience. But how can we gain the victory?
6. In 2 Corinthians 7:1 we read of the importance of entire cleansing. How can this be?
7. In 1 Timothy 5:22 we read of the importance of personal purity. But how…?

How can I KEEP BETHEL PURE BEFORE GOD?

Psalm 119:9-16 gives us the answer.  TURN THERE IN YOUR BIBLE – see it for yourself… 

I want to leave you with these principles:

1. Verse 10 – Search your Bible and be ready to obey all that God commands.
2. Verse 11. EAT THE BOOK! Let God’s Word enter right into you. Hide it in your heart! It not only has the power to cleanse you but to keep your heart clean
3. Verse 12 – Have a humble heart as you walk in the posture of a ‘disciple’ a student of Messiah! Notice the words ”teach me”. You must do what Mary did (Luke 10:39) and take note of Matthew 11:29.
4. Verse 13 – Declare the truth of God’s Word in your daily walk and at your work.
5. Verse 14 – Rejoice in God’s Word and treasure it above everything else.
6. Verse 15 – Learn, mark and inwardly digest God’s Word and never question what it says. To ”meditate” means ‘to chew the cud’; to “respect”(KJV) means to submit to the fact that God’s will and His ways are always best.
7. Verse 16 – Persevere at this daily process: take His Word, apply it, obey it and make it your all-sufficient rule for faith (what you believe) and practice (what you do).

~

REVIVAL then — is our response to the Glory and OUTRAGEOUS LOVE OF A HOLY GOD – that has ransomed our hearts and birthed such a passion for His Presence and Intimacy with Him – that we don – we WILLINGLY PUT ON the bridal garments of Holiness and righteousness  — otherwise known as PURITY – and having been clothed WITH HIM AND IN HIM à we share Him with the world à we become an ENCOUNTER with Christ because we are clothed with Him! 

We preach/publish/share/LIVE The Gospel of The Kingdom – in such a way that people have a “knee bending – paradigm shifting – experience in Him” – whenever we enter a room – Hosting His HOLY Presence!

~

Response to this Word…

PLEDGE TO CULTIVATE A

PERSONAL CULTURE OF REVIVAL

Psalm 119.9-16 ~ The Passion Translation

How can a young man stay pure?

Only by living in the Word of God and walking in its truth. 

 

I have longed for You with the passion of my heart;

Don’t let me stray from Your directions!

 

I will consider Your Prophecies to be my greatest treasure,

And I memorize them and write them on my heart

To keep me from committing sin’s treason against You.

 

My wonderful God, You are to be praised above all;

Teach me the power of your decrees!

 

I speak continually of Your laws

As I recite out loud Your counsel to me.

 

I find more joy in following what You tell me to do

Than in chasing after all the wealth of the world!

 

I set my heart on Your precepts

And pay close attention to all your ways.

My delight is found in all Your laws,

And I won’t forget to walk in Your words.

I won’t forget to walk in YOUR Words!

Wide Awake

It was 3am and I was wide awake. Our little darling Lily, somewhere in the middle of the night, had lost her pacifier (or as she calls it, “Paci!!”) and was letting mommy and daddy know in no uncertain terms that we needed to find it….as in NOW!

Tarrah normally gets up for these sort of things because I could sleep through the Apocalypse, but this time I got up, popped the beloved “Paci” back in and was then, wide awake. 

Somewhere between 5-6am, I decided I wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep and long story short, ended up on our garden swing outside in prayer. As I was swinging away, I looked up at one of the trees we have in our little back yard and God spoke to me and said, “You don’t plant a tree to enjoy yourself, you plant it for your kids and grand kids to enjoy.”

I had to think about this for a while and then like any good kid born in the 80’s, I was prompted to Google, “How long does it take for the average tree to mature?”  I saw to my surprise that on average, it takes 20 years for trees to mature and can even take up to 30 years.

This whole concept got me thinking of the power of a good seed. Choices, conversations, education, random acts of kindness, time spent in the Glory of God and around the dinner table with our loved ones; are all seeds which will bear fruit in the years to come. But, there are also bad choices and thoughts etc. that will bear fruit. As I thought about all of this, the Lord asked me, “What seeds are you planting?”

I have been struck by a few experiences I have had lately. The one that stood out to me was when I saw what a friend posted on Facebook about Bruce Jenner making his public statement now wanting to be called Caitlyn Jenner. My friend posted on Facebook that we have to wake up and that the events happening in this time are unprecedented etc. It all came from a good heart, but I couldn’t say I completely agree with everything expressed in his statement, “This is unprecedented.”

I feel many times to use this phrase of, “unprecedented” focuses us on the problems at hand. Many times I feel it evokes a sense of fear rather than faith. Also, it isn’t true in many senses and creates in us a mindset that somehow we have to conquer things that no other generation did. In fact, Jesus told Peter that he would establish his church, “on this rock” at a place where there were 3 temples erected to false gods and human sacrifice took place!

I think about ancient Rome and all the practices that took place in public, in the streets; the barbarism, the immorality, the false ideologies, etc. When I look at our society today, especially in America, we don’t yet see this public display of depravity. The thing that makes today different and increases the speed and exposure of the sin in our society is our global connectedness through technology and our understanding of science and medicine, that was not present in the time I described above. However, I am painfully aware of the fact and agree with my friend about the need to…“Wake up!” The reality is that if we don’t start planting different seeds, all we know and hold dear will be lost. 

What kind of seeds are you planting today? They will grow and your children and your children’s children will eat the fruit of them. Let us pull our children, our spouses, our brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents and grandchildren close and take the time to love. Let us teach our children to memorize scripture and teach them what is clearly right or wrong. Let us get on our knees and cry out to God like never before that he would spare our nation and generation and have mercy on us. Now is the time to plant. What we reap in the future in every area depends on the choices we make today.

Let’s plant seeds of truth and love and get a harvest of righteousness.

Determination

Who likes adversity? You can call it resistance, problems, hindrances, persecution, trouble, pressure, conflict, people issues, whatever you like. None of us are particularly fond of it however it comes and I don’t personally know anyone who has purposely signed up for it.

But . . . . without adversity, I have no idea what I really am willing to die for. And I’m not really sure what I am living for until it is tested. Adversity of any kind, (and the more intense and distressing the adversity), tests how badly we want something or how great our determination is to accomplish something.

Biblically, adversity is the qualifier to inheritance in that we must overcome it to inherit. (Rev 2-3). Adversity uncovers our resolve, our stamina, desire, groundedness, focus, priorities, and our future. If we overcome, we will inherit.

In other words, adversity uncovers our level of determination. The greater the adversity, the greater the test. How badly do we want something? What are we willing to die for? What are we willing to face incredible pain for; and get all the way through the pain?

We throw the word breakthrough around all the time. In services an incredible outbreaking of the Holy Spirit will sometimes manifest. We seem to suddenly be propelled forward into a new realm, past every obstacle, over every wall etc. What do we do Monday morning when the “thrill” of Sunday’s breakthrough pales in comparison to the challenge we are up against.

Golda Meir felt in her gut that Israel needed to prepare for an attack on Yom Kippur in 1983. However everyone around her, including Moshe Dayan, said“no, there wasn’t going to be any such attack on Israel.”Nevertheless when everyone had gone home (including all the soldiers), the men were in the synagogue, and Israel was at rest celebrating Yom Kippur, Syria and Egypt invaded Israel’s borders just like Golda Meir suspected in her gut.

The Prime Minister felt like a failure, like she had personally positioned Israel in harm’s way by not listening to her gut. She was ready to commit suicide, seriously pondered ending her life because it looked like Israel’s end as a nation. She felt personally responsible.

Golda had a dream, an enduring vision and mandate from God concerning the nation of Israel. She knew Israel was to not only continue but flourish as a nation. She knew this in God’s heart. Putting her sense of personal guilt and regret aside, she called President Richard Nixon in the middle of the night. She explained that if the United States did not help Israel, it was over for Israel. Nixon asked her what she needed. She outlined the military help needed and Nixon took detailed notes. He got off the phone and mobilized every bit of the help Israel needed. Instantly it was on the way.

Why did Nixon do that? He was in the middle of the Watergate scandal, publicly shamed by those circumstances.

While listening to Meir’s requests, he remembered when he was a little child his mother telling him about the Old Testament, biblical, Israeli battles, David and Goliath. He remembered her looking at himand saying, “someday Richard you are going to do something that saves Israel, that wins a big battle like David and Goliath.” Mired in shame, Nixon at that moment said, perhaps this is why I have become president of the United States. And he reached out to mobilize help, all the help Israel needed to turn the Yom Kippur war around. Israel was saved from total defeat.

Both Meir and Nixon were tested to the core of their being. There was something greater than the pain and trouble engulfing them, there was a mandate, a purpose for which they were born. That day both of them were tested over how determined were they to accomplish what had been put in their hands to do.

Both of them passed that test.

Paul said in Philippians 3 that he was pressing on to apprehend that for which he had been apprehended. Paul had to put the past behind, regrets, failures, shame, and disappointment. There was something greater, the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.

I suspect that’s what God was saying to Isaiah when He said don’t remember the former things nor consider (turn over in your mind) things from the past. I am doing a new thing.

Trouble, adversity has a purpose. It tests our level of determination. It uncovers our true level of determination. How determined are we to successfully accomplish what God has put in our hands to do; the purpose for which He save us in the first place; the reason He apprehended us?

Those who are determined will be the most tested. And from more than one ash heap, they will crawl out often temporarily crippled, in pain, and feeling defeated, to arise and go beyond their feelings to apprehend the prize. That was what Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 4 and Philippians 3. That’s what propelled Jesus to drink the cup in Gethsemane, to go all the way to the other side.The side of Victory. Call it breakthrough.

How far are you willing to go? What is your level of determination? That will define your prize. (Philippians 3)